Nursery World - The great outdoors (1)

In the first of a new monthly series taking a closer look at the early excellence centres, Julian Grenier goes down to the woods in Somerset 'There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing' could well be the motto of the Forest School at Bridgwater College Early Excellence Centre. Children have the chance to go to the specially secured acre of woodland all year round and in all weathers to build shelters, leap into puddles and collect twigs in the snow. The experience is fun and has brought huge benefits for the children in the nursery.

'There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing' could well be the motto of the Forest School at Bridgwater College Early Excellence Centre. Children have the chance to go to the specially secured acre of woodland all year round and in all weathers to build shelters, leap into puddles and collect twigs in the snow. The experience is fun and has brought huge benefits for the children in the nursery.

Centre manager Alison Oaten says, 'It's given us a totally different perspective on the children, seeing how confident and capable they can become in the forest. You can follow the messages the children give you in all sorts of different ways, from talking about seeing a dead bird to dealing with group relationships, such as what happens if someone falls over and hurts themselves.'

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